Musar su I Cronache 17:78

And in order to set one's mind at rest in this, I have thought it fit to introduce an exalted thought here which is rooted in the Yerushalmi adduced by Semag, that if one were walking on the road and struck one of his feet with the other and, in doing so, fell to the ground and hurt his body, his face and also that foot — aside from the fact that it would never enter his mind to take revenge of that foot by [desisting] from healing it, he would also harbor no hatred whatsoever against it. For what is the foot and what are his body and his face — they all are one [body], but divided into organs. Rather, he would reason that his sins caused this. Here, too, if it happened that his friend did not benefit him with a certain good that he asked of him, or even if he grieved or insulted him in some way, he should not avenge himself and harbor hatred against him. For who is his friend and who is he? Both are from one root, as it is written (I Chronicles 17:21): "And who is like Your people, Israel, one nation in the land?" And it is written [Bereshith 46:27): "All of the soul of the house of Jacob that came etc." It is not written "souls," to teach us that all the souls of Israel above are reckoned as one soul. It is just that each one is an entity in itself. As with a man in his entirety — even though, as a whole, he is one man, still, he has organs which are "heads" to him, like the head and the heart; and there are those beneath these, like the hand and the foot. And it is also into one rest that all of Israel will gather in the end — under the Throne of Glory — as it is written (I Samuel 25:29): "And the soul of my lord will be bound in the bond of life with the L-rd your G-d, etc." It is just that because in this world, where everyone is clothed in his own matter by himself, and because each of his affairs and undertakings is an entity in itself that a man imagines himself to be a distinct person and not "one" with his fellow Jew at all — but this is not so.

And this is the language of the holy Zohar in Parshath Terumah on Psalms 129:126): "It is a time to act for the L-rd," viz.: "So long as the Torah endures in the world and men occupy themselves with it, the Holy One Blessed be He rejoices in the work of His hands and rejoices in all of the worlds, and the heavens and the earth remain standing. What is more, the Holy One Blessed be He gathers all His tribunal and says to them: 'See the holy people that I have on the earth, by whom the Torah is adorned. See My handiwork, about which you have said: 'What is man that You remember him?'" And when they see the joy of their Master in His people, they immediately open [their mouths] and say (I Chronicles 17:21): 'Who is like Your people, Israel, one nation in the land?' But when Israel neglect Torah, His strength, as it were, weakens, wherefore "it is a time [for you] to act for the L-rd.' These are the tzaddikim who are left. They must gird their loins and perform good deeds, so that the Holy One Blessed be He will strengthen Himself to rejoice with the tzaddikim and with His camps and battalions. Why so? (Psalms, Ibid.): [For] 'they have violated Your Torah,' and the men of the world do not occupy themselves with it as is fitting."

Come and see how great is the power of peace. For in the beginning of the creation of the universe the Holy One Blessed be He employed Himself in the creation of an instrument of peace, as it is written (Bereshith 1:3): "And G-d said: 'Let there be light' — and there was light." And how do we know that light is peace? For it is written (Isaiah 45:7): "He fashions light and creates darkness; He makes peace and creates evil." On this basis, our teachers of blessed memory ruled (Shabbath 23b): "As between a candle for his house and wine for kiddush, to sanctify the Sabbath [if he can afford only one], a candle for his house takes precedence because of the peace of his household." What is more, our sages enacted many ordinances in pursuit of the paths of peace, viz. (Gittin 59a): "They declared the following in pursuit of the paths of peace: 'The Cohein reads first [in the Torah], then the Levite, then the Israelite, because of "the paths of peace."'" An eruv [a halachic enabling device] is placed in an old house, because of "the paths of peace." The pit nearest the irrigation canal is filled first because of "the paths of peace."'" And so is it written (Proverbs 3;17): "Its [Torah's] ways are ways of pleasantness and all of its paths are peace." And thus did our sages of blessed memory say in the aggadah (Bamidbar Rabbah 15:13, Tanchuma Beha'alothecha 11): "There are thirteen things that the Holy One Blessed be He loved, and of all of them, He "doubled" [in profusion of love], only "peace." They [(the thirteen)] are: Cohanim, Levites, Israel, Sanhedrin [the high court], the first-born, the offerings of the tabernacle, the sacrifices, the oil of anointment, the Land of Israel, Jerusalem, the Temple, the kingdom of the house of David, and the silver and the gold. The Cohanim — (Shemoth 28:41): "And they shall be priests unto Me." the Levites (Numbers 3:41): "And I shall take the Levites unto Me." Israel — (Shemoth 19:6): "And you [Israel] shall be unto Me a kingdom of priests." Sanhedrin — (Numbers 11:16): "Gather unto Me seventy men." The first-born — (Shemoth 13:2) "Sanctify unto Me every first-born." The offerings of the tabernacle — (Ibid. 25:2): "And they shall take unto Me an offering." The sacrifices — (Numbers 28:2): "You shall heed to sacrifice unto Me in its appointed time." The oil of anointment — (Shemoth 30:31): "The holy oil of anointment shall this be unto Me for your generations." The Land of Israel — (Ibid. 19:5): "For unto Me is all the land." Jerusalem — (I Kings 11:36): "The city that I have chosen unto Me." The Temple — (I Chronicles 17:12): "He shall build unto Me a habitation." The kingdom of the house of David — (I Samuel 16:1): "For I have seen in his sons a king unto Me." The silver and the gold — (Chaggai 2:8): "Mine is the silver, and Mine is the gold." But, of all of these, none was doubled [in profusion of love] but "peace," as it is written (Isaiah 27:5): "Or let him take hold of My strength. He shall make peace unto Me; peace shall he make unto Me." Great is peace, which takes precedence to praise of the Blessed One Himself. For when Yithro came to Moses, immediately (Exodus 18:7): "And each made inquiry of the other's peace," whereas only afterwards (Ibid. 8): "And Moses related to his father-in-law all of the miracles that the Holy One Blessed be He had wrought for Israel." What is more, for all of the mitzvoth that the wicked perform in this world, the Holy One Blessed be He gives them their reward in this world — such as wealth, property, years, honor, and the like — except peace, which He does not give them, as it is written (Isaiah 57:21): "There is no peace, says my G-d, for the wicked." And, what is more, the Holy One Blessed be He gives peace as a reward to the righteous, as it is written (Ibid. 32:17): "And the reward for righteousness shall be peace…" What is more, it is with peace that He draws near to Him converts and penitents, as it is written (Ibid. 57:19): "He creates the utterance of the lips: 'Peace, Peace,' for the far and the near, says the L-rd, and I will heal him." Great is peace, for in regard to all of the journeyings in the desert it is written "And they journeyed and they rested," journeying in strife and resting in strife. But when they came to Mount Sinai, they made one great "resting," as it is written (Shemoth 19:2): "And Israel rested there, before the mountain." (Vayikra Rabbah 9:9): "The Holy One Blessed be He said: 'The time has now arrived for Me to give Torah to My children.'" For as long as they are at peace with one another, the Shechinah is among them. And thus is it said (Devarim 33:5): "And He was a King in Yeshurun when the heads of the people were gathered, together with the tribes of Israel." When does the kingdom and the Shechinah of the Blessed One abide in Israel? When they are all gathered together as one. Come and see how great is the power of peace; for it is through the power of peace that the world endures. For thus have our sages of blessed memory said (Avoth 1:18): "On three things does the world stand: on judgment, on truth, and on peace, as it is written (Zechariah 8:16): 'Truth and a judgment of peace shall you judge in your gates.'" What is more, when there is peace among men, there is blessing in their fruits, as it is written (Ibid. 12): "For as the seed of peace, the vine shall give its fruit, and the earth shall give its produce, and the heavens shall give its dew, and I shall bequeath all of these to the remnant of this people." And thus is it written (Psalms 147:14): "He makes peace on your borders and sates you with the fatness of wheat." Our sages have said (Vayikra Rabbah 9:9): "Great is peace, for if one erases one letter of G-d's name, he transgresses a negative commandment, as it is written (Devarim 12:3): 'And you shall wipe out their [the idols'] name from that place,' followed by (Ibid. 4): 'You shall not do so to the L-rd your G-d.' Yet to make peace between a man and his wife, the Torah says (Numbers 5:23): 'And the Cohein shall write these curses [containing G-d's name] in a book and erase them into the bitter waters.' The Holy One Blessed be He says: 'Let My name, which was written in holiness, be erased by the waters.'" And Chazal have said further (Vayikrah Rabbah 9:9): "Great is peace, for all of the goodly blessings and consolations that the Holy One Blessed be He convokes upon Israel conclude with "peace." The Shema — "He spreads a canopy of peace." The Amidah — "He makes peace." The priestly blessing — "And He shall repose peace upon you." "Therefore, my sons, be circumspect in this trait — to love peace and to pursue peace. For there is no end to the reward for loving peace and pursuing peace." Until here, the language of Ma'aloth Hamiddoth.

Once we understand 6,2 in the Torah in this way we will be better able to understand an extremely enigmatic verse in Samuel II 7,23: ומי כעמך ישראל גוי אחד בארץ אשר הלכו אלקים לפדות לו לעם ולשום לו שם ולעשות לכם הגדולה ונוראות לארצך מפני עמך אשר פדית לך ממצרים גוים ואלו-היו, "And who is like Your people Israel, a unique nation on earth, whom G–d went and redeemed as His people, winning renown for Himself and doing great and marvellous deeds for them and for Your land [driving out] nations and their gods before Your people whom You redeemed for Yourself from Egypt." All the commentators have great difficulty with this verse. One of the difficulties is the expression "like Your people Israel." Another difficulty is that in this instance G–d is described as הלכו, went (pl.), whereas in a parallel verse in Chronicles I 17,21, G–d is described as הלך, went (sing.).

We shall now explain the verse preceding the line of כח וגבורה נתן בהם in Samuel II 7,23 we have quoted earlier. It says there: אין כמוך ואין אלוקים זולתך, "There is no one like You nor any other deity beside You." [There actually seems to be an error in the text, since the wording in Samuel II 7,23 is not identical with the wording quoted from the liturgical poem א-ל אדון which the author also quoted. Ed.] The first half means that there is no one of equal status. Even if You were to create such a power, it is impossible for it to be comparable to You. The very fact that You had to "invent" such a power makes it inferior to You. The words אין זולתך, refer to powers, deities, already in existence to whom G–d has assigned various domains within which they appear to reign supreme, as mentioned in the poet's statement כח וגבורה נתן בהם להיות מושלים בקרב תבל, "He has equipped them with strength and power to be ruling in the midst of the universe." Their rule is not independent of You, i.e. אין זולתך. When it is Your will, these powers exercise dominion; when it is Your will, You take this power away from them.

The words לארצך מפני עמך are an allusion to the כנסת ישראל in the Celestial Regions and in the corresponding Sanctuary in those Regions. We know that that Region is known as ארץ חפץ. The words מפני עמך in the corresponding verse in Chronicles I 17,21, refer to the people of Israel on earth, as David there speaks about the need לגרש, to expel nations on account of "the people whom You have redeemed for Yourself from Egypt." David says in effect that G–d redeemed the people and their G–d, meaning that the שכינה had also been in exile. We have other examples in scripture which suggest the same theme, i.e. that the redemption of Israel goes hand in hand with the "redemption" of the שכינה. To mention one, קומה בעזרתי, "Arise when I am helped" in Psalms 35,2, suggests a simultaneous salvation for Israel and G–d, so to speak. Or, Isaiah 45,17 ישראל נושע בה' תשועות עולמים. Here too the meaning could be that the ישועה for G–d כביכול, is dependent on Israel being helped.

In connection with the debate in the Talmud (Shabbat 55a) whether זכות אבות, reliance on the merits of our patriarchs is still effective today, and if not, when it ceased to be so, the author makes the following observations: Tosafot quote a verse proving that even nowadays, i.e. after the destruction of the second Temple, this merit has not expired, and that we mention it in our prayers in order to remind G–d of it. I believe (author) that there is a difference between someone saying: "Please remember so and so," and someone saying: "Please do not forget so and so." The opinions in the Talmud which try and determine the merit of the forefathers ceased to be effective refer to G–d no longer actively remembering the merit of the patriarchs but simply not having forgotten them. The author of our prayer therefore refers to the merits of our forefathers כלא היו, "as if they had never existed," as distinct from "never having existed, having been used up." This is the difference between אין, and כאין. The חכמים mentioned in our prayer are the twelve sons of Jacob, all of whom accumulated powerful merits, so much so that Solomon describes them as a source of joy to their father (Proverbs 10,1). We also have a verse in Proverbs 24,3: בחכמה יבנה בית, "a house is built by wisdom," which is a reference to the house of Jacob. There used to be a period when the merits of the forefathers were constantly on G–d's mind. This was when the High Priest wore the breastplate. During those years the knowledge of what G–d desired flowed to us through the אורים ותומים, the oracle contained in that breastplate. Nowadays, alas, we are as if bereft of knowledge, i.e. כבלי מדע.